BPW Greater Sudbury Celebrating Equal Pay Day on April 11, 2017 and Supporting the Ontario Government to Continue to Pursue Initiatives that Promote Gender Equal Pay

BPW Greater Sudbury Celebrating Equal Pay Day on April 11, 2017 and Supporting the Ontario Government to Continue to Pursue Initiatives that Promote Gender Equal Pay

Ontario has one of the largest gender wage gaps in the world with a 31.5% difference! This discrimination is not only limited to one career or demographic; it affects women of all ages, races and educational levels.

BPW has been an advocate for gender wage equality for many decades and more recently we have a Provincial BPW representative currently sitting on the newly formed Gender Wage Gap Working Group along with 14 organizations and two community members, representing business, labour, human resources and women’s advocacy. The Minister of Labour, Kevin Flynn announced this working group on November 24th, which marked the 30th anniversary of the introduction of Ontario’s Pay Equity Action. This working group has also been mandated by the Premier Kathleen Wynne and will meet regularly over the next 12 months to provide advice and feedback on how government can address specific issues and initiatives identified in the Gender Wage Gap Final Report. Issues that have been included in this report include; Shared Parental leaves; A gender workplace analysis tool; A social awareness strategy to help understand the effects of gender bias, the gender wage gap and the importance of closing the gap; and Reviewing pay equity legislation.

BPW Sudbury supports the mandate of the working group to develop significant initiatives and that the government of Ontario follows through with such initiatives, and continues to strive to find solutions to address the Gender Pay Gaps that women face. “When we discriminate against women, we discriminate against everyone. We are all equal and deserve to be compensated equally”, Carol Stahl BPW Greater Sudbury President stated.

Help us in creating awareness about equal pay by wearing red on April 11, 2017 for Equal Pay Day! Together we can create a fair and thriving Ontario where women are equal to everyone!